Maybe this is why Dignity doesn’t have funeral prices online yet?

    

        Price list from Dignity Branch 1                                                                     Price list from Dignity Branch 2

 

NAFD member Dignity Funerals hasn’t come out well in the recent CMA report, as we reported in our recent blog posts here and here.

Their share price has slumped as a consequence, at one point today dropping to a five year low of £7.51, as opposed to the dizzy heights of May 2017 when they were up over £25 each. That was the month in which Mike McCollum CEO sold a big chunk of his remaining shares (91,667 to be exact). We wrote about that here. 

It’s worth keeping an eye on Dignity’s director dealings. It’s good to see who’s doing well out of their hard work during their 3 year Transformation Programme. You can find details here. 

It’s heart warming to see that according to Dignity’s press release last week in response to the CMA statement, ‘The Group has committed to making the funeral prices for all its branches available online by the end of Q1 2019’.

But, why is it taking so long?

Well, it might be because the current Dignity pricing model wouldn’t look very good online.

Above, we show two price lists obtained from two different Dignity branches in London in the last few weeks. The branches are within 2 miles of each other.

One branch is located in an area that could be described as middle class, affluent and not particularly culturally diverse. Let’s call this Branch 1.

The other (Branch 2) is in an area with a far greater mix of different ethnicities and cultures, with many people that are generally less affluent for sure than the other branch’s clientele.

What difference could this possibly make to the prices charged by Dignity for the same service, using the same staff and vehicles, the same central hub storage? Remember, these branches are just 2 miles away from each other.

We don’t know. But there is a difference. A difference of almost £1,500 on the prices listed for their ‘Full Service Funeral.

Literally, 15 minutes walk to Branch 1 could save you £1,445 for the same service from the same company.

In case you can’t see from the photos, here are some excerpts from the two branches’ price lists:

‘Our Service to You’

Branch 1      £1,095

Branch 2      £1,705

Our Service to the Person who has Died’

Branch 1      £ 795

Branch 2      £1,045

‘Your Appointed Funeral Director’

Branch 1       £460

Branch 2       £720

‘Our Hearses’

Branch 1       £395

Branch 2       £720

‘Additional services’ are priced differently, as are coffins – the ‘Chiltern’, ‘Purbeck’ and ‘Glastonbury’ are priced at £440, £750 and £1,250 in Branch 2.

The exact same coffins, with the exact same names coming from the exact same coffins probably on the same van to the branch just 2 miles away are priced at £290, 495 and £995. So £250+ more. On top of all the other higher prices for the lower income clients. One could almost think there had been a deliberate attempt to take advantage of cultural differences.

The difference in terminology and inference in the content of the two price lists is marked too.

Referring to embalming, the price list from Branch 1 has the Embalming price listed under ‘Frequent Considerations’, and says: ‘Embalming is a personal choice. In some circumstances we recommend the peace of mind that embalming brings. We will discuss this service with you’. That’s quite nice and unobtrusive. And it is priced at £250.

Branch 2’s blurb about embalming has far more prominence. Embalming is listed as the third price, before ‘Your Appointed Funeral Director, positioning implying it’s something that is just normal to require.

And it carries a little more of an ominous overtone ‘We will ensure that every available care is taken to delay the natural processes that occur after death. However, as members of the National Association of Funeral Directors we recommend the peace of mind that embalming brings. You will be advised on this and we will require your consent.’

The price for embalming at Branch 2? Just £101. It’s the only thing that we found cheaper looking at the two price lists. Everything else was more expensive in the diverse, less affluent location.

So sorting the labyrinthine, location-specific Dignity pricing out to get prices online looks like it’s going to be time consuming for the men in suits in HQ. How can they make this work? 

Oh, and one last thing. Reading through Dignity’s self serving press release, we noticed the following quote from Mr McCollum, ““Dignity has committed to making its prices easily available for consumers by putting them online and believes that all operators should be required to follow suit to ensure greater transparency on pricing across the sector.”

Dignity as the leader that is taking a moral stance?

Excuse our French, but you have to be ****ing kidding Mr McCollum.

 

 

 

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